Every Sweet Apple Elementary student in grades two through five took part in last week’s Hour of Code, a nationwide campaign to help introduce students to computer programming.

Media and educational technology instructor Julie Whelan, computer instructor Lynn Watson and parent Kari Goldstein aimed to demystify computer science for the students by taking them through an introductory tutorial. The students learned the basic concepts of programming by helping an Angry Birds character move through a maze and reach the evil pig who stole his eggs.

Goldstein was particularly delighted with the initiative.

“The students were truly engaged and really seemed to enjoy the Angry Birds activity,” she said. “It was wonderful to see them working collaboratively to develop a solution when they got stuck.”

Sweet Apple principal, Natalie Richman said, “This is an incredible opportunity for our students to get an entry-level preview into an up-and-coming career field.”

The Hour of Code is an initiative sponsored by Code.org, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting computer science education. The nonprofit is supported by organizations and individuals including Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Apple, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg.

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